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The Charity Autism Conference – titled “Maximizing Progress”, co-organized by Autism Partnership, Department of Special Education of National Taiwan Normal University and Cardinal Tien Hospital, will be held on December 2-3, 2017 in Taipei.

Over the two-day conference, Mr. Toby Mountjoy will share a wealth of knowledge about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and discuss the most effective elements of treatment to maximize the potential of children with ASD.

The aim of the conference is to provide platforms for practical discussion on the issue of quality treatment, to exchange experiences and share insightful ideas to autism.

Due to overwhelming responses and limited capacity of the venue, selection of successful registration will be made by drawing lots. Results will be notified via email on or before November 10, 2017.

Speaker Bio

Mr. Toby Mountjoy (MSc, BCBA) is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and holds a Master of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis. With over 20 years of experience working with individuals with ASD, he has been extensively trained by Dr. Ronald Leaf, Dr. Mitchell Taubman and Dr. John McEachin. Besides overseeing the Autism Partnership operation in Hong Kong, Korea, Philippines and Singapore with over 200 staff, including psychologists, consultants and therapists, he has also provided consultations to school districts, agencies, and families worldwide. Mr. Mountjoy has also contributed chapters to publications such as “Sense & Nonsense” and “It’s Time for School”. In 2007, he founded the charitable Autism Partnership Foundation and Aoi Pui School to offer more services for children with Autism.

8 Topic Areas

1. Facts and Fiction

There is a great deal of misinformation and confusion regarding issues such etiology, prognosis and treatment options. In order to effectively navigate the maze of ASD it is essential to critically analyze the issues that parents and professionals confront on a daily basis so as to develop the most effective intervention strategies.

2. Maximizing Progress

Students with ASD have tremendous potential. Unfortunately, the expectations for students with ASD have historically be way to low. This has greatly affected how children are taught. Lower expectations have influenced decision on educational strategies as well as curriculum. Effective programing efforts can help our student’s reach their potential and most importantly maximize the quality of their lives.

3. Dealing with Challenging Behaviors

Disruptive behaviors such as aggression, non-compliance, inattention and not responding directly interfere with the learning process. Unfortunately, many of the strategies that are employed such as ignoring, timeout or reprimands are simply not effective in the long term. Moreover, they often are not practical for teachers and parents to effectively utilize. Surprisingly, reducing or eliminating disruptive behaviors can not only be effective but rapid as well as teacher and parent friendly.

4. “Learning How to Learn”

Acquiring “learning to learn” skills is absolutely pivotal in a child’s success. It is teaching children the process of learning. It is the foundation, perhaps the pivotal skill necessary for them to acquire all other skills. Often when a child is struggling in learning beginning or even advanced skills it is often because the child is deficient in this area. Learning how to understand feedback, remaining calm, and paying attention are just a few of the skills that are critical to accelerate the learning process.

5. From Non-Verbal to Verbal

Communication and language problems are a major part of treatment. Many children with ASD may still be non-verbal or have very limited language skills compared to their peers. Research based techniques and numerous videos will be shown to illustrate effective methods for developing speech and communication.

6. Developing language understanding

As well as helping students to be more spontaneous it is also critical to enhance their understanding of language. Speaker will present how Autism Partnership develops curriculum in this area. In addition there will be programs and helpful hints on how to improve articulation problems.

7. Enriching Social Lives of Children with Autism

Relatively limited attention has been devoted to the social area, and has typically focused on basic skills. Some approaches attempt to address more complex social skills, yet commonly propose experiences that merely produce social effects. Presenter will discuss why development of social skills and a social skills curriculum is critical in a good intervention program. As well as discussion of currently available approaches will also present the social skills taxonomy which was created to help people develop and conceptualize the social skills curriculum.

8. Developing Meaningful Relationships

In an effort to better meet this need, Autism Partnership has developed a wide range of programs and effective techniques to build social skills for children with autism. Presenter will show a variety of videos demonstrating a broad scope of curriculum and how it is implemented with students of different levels.

The registration of “Maximizing Progress” Conference in Taipei has been completed.
Thank you all for your participation.